‘Affordable Heating Act’ passes 5-0 in Senate Committee
Despite testimony that it's more stick than carrot for Vermont's poor
By Guy Page
Senate Bill 5, the Affordable Heating Act, was approved unanimously by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this morning.
The bill is a reprise of the Clean Heat Standard the Legislature passed last year only to be vetoed by Governor Phil Scott. It imposes a sales fee on fuel dealers and distribute some of the proceeds to weatherization and other non-fossil fuel energy initiatives. Supporters claim it will save money in the long run because electricity – at least now – is often cheaper than fossil fuels. But critics say the cost of transitioning from oil, propane and natural gas heat to electric-powered heat pumps places an undue burden on lower-income Vermonters.
This morning’s vote was unanimous, despite committee member Windsor County Senator Richard McCormack’s recent expressions of concern about the bill’s lack of clarity. McCormack this morning told the Vermont Daily Chronicle that social media claims that opposed the bill were overblown.
After weeks of committee testimony and wildly varying claims on the pricetag to consumers, what S5 will cost still appears uncertain. Jared Duval, a Vermont Climate Council member and official of a renewable power organization, said the Scott administration estimate of 70 cents per gallon of heating fuel is too high.
Myers Mermel, President of the free-market Ethan Allen Institute, told the committee Wednesday that reaching climate goals on time will require far more than an added 70 cents per gallon. “It will take 28 years to enact climate measures if only seventy cents is passed through as a fuel surcharge. The actual upfront costs will require the pass through of a surcharge of four dollars and four cents per gallon to achieve compliance in only five years,” Mermel said.
And it will have a disastrous, inequitable economic impact on poor Vermonters, he claimed.
“Once begun, the Carbon Doom Spiral will punish low- and moderate-income Vermonters with higher and higher fuel charges and no greater ability to fund changeover renovations,” Mermel said. “There will be no promised price protection for them. And as renovations lag, climate goals will be missed. The “carrot and stick” approach will be just sticks with no carrots. This new heat standard will increase income inequality and will become a new system which oppresses low- and moderate-income Vermonters. The Affordable Heat Act will increase, not diminish, suffering.”
The bill is likely to go to a Senate finance committee for its spending and taxation implications before it goes to the full Senate for discussion and vote.